- Social Media: Influence of University Official Pages
- Canada: Too Many PhDs?
- Germany: Cash for MOOCs
- China: UNSW Recognises Gaokao
Universities still have a way to go to ensure that their social media presence is seen as a credible source of information for prospective students.Our research, conducted with online student community The Student Room, surveyed over 300 potential and current students about what information sources or channels influenced their choice of university. We found that although 65% of students use social media channels several times a day, students rated universities’ social media presence as less influential and less trustworthy than more traditional sources such as prospectuses or open days.Prospective students are keen to engage with their university through social media channels, with one fifth of students saying that universities don’t make enough use of social media in recruitment, which meant they currently didn’t expect or look for information there.
A persistent theme in current discussions about graduate education and its outcomes is the question of whether Canada is “producing too many PhDs.” While enrollments (and numbers of PhD graduates) have increased with the encouragement of policy, more of these grads now struggle to find employment that matches the level and nature of their education – particularly employment in universities, as tenure-track faculty. The situation in Canada is not as dire as in the States where just this week it was reported that three quarters of faculty work as adjuncts, but accounts of under-employed PhDs working as waiters and cab drivers have become more common.
German course-platform company, looking to help kick-start the MOOC movement in Europe, is inviting professors and others interested in creating and offering massive open online courses to compete in its contest for a chance to win one of 10 MOOC Production Fellowships—and with it, a prize of 25,000 euros.Applicants have until April 30 to apply. Iversity, the Berlin-based company sponsoring the fellowships, will hold online voting for the finalists through May 23.Stifterverband, a German nonprofit association that promotes university-industry collaborations and innovation, is putting up the money, a total of 250,000 euros, or about $325,000.The 10 winners, to be selected by a jury, will be invited to Berlin in late June for a two-day symposium where they can share ideas with one another on ways to present their courses.
With Australia’s ‘Asia Literacy’ looming as a key issue in the upcoming federal election, Aussie universities, led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have launched a furious campaign to woo Chinese students and the potential boom in knowledge they provide.In a ground breaking policy launched this week in Guangzhou, UNSW will accept Gaokao scores as the basis for entry into undergraduate programs spanning the humanities, commerce and economics, actuarial studies, architecture, fine arts, media, engineering and science.China is UNSW’s largest source of international students, with 5,748 Chinese students accounting for approximately 10 percent of the entire UNSW student population.Accepting China’s Gaokao scores from 2014 directly for admissions across the majority of undergraduate degree programs reflects both the shifting mission of Australian universities and the close working relationships UNSW enjoys with a receptive Chinese government.
